Ming Qian An Ji Bai Cha from Seven Cups. This is the first 2013 chinese green and it's arrival was very welcome. I had to cut back on sencha due to a digestive difficulty and I needed to move to the gentler chinese teas.

I went from greeting a cheerful post office package person at the door directly to the kitchen to brew some tea. This tea has a wonderful sweet vegetal character with a touch of dryness in the finish.

As a side note, people criticize the post office but I ordered the tea from Seven Cups in Arizona late on Wednesday night, they shipped the package priority mail on Thursday, and I received it on the East Coast this Saturday. Fedex takes a full week and costs more.

Devoted135 wrote:I've finally gotten around to the Asanoka from the NOTTI earlier this year, and have been enjoying it immensely. I've settled on ~5g/90ml. First steep 150F/60s, then 150F/30s, and back up in increments of 30s. Really lovely flavors in every steep.

Along with a square of dark chocolate, it's been my go to afternoon tea this week, in my Andrzej kyusu and Greenwood Studio teacup. Afternoon Asanoka by Devoted135, on Flickr

Devoted,

What a beautiful kyusu! It is simple and yet earthy, subtle and warm. I appreciate the shape and the small flecks in the glaze. Envy

Artisan's Reserve by Mellow Monk, which is a nice, balanced, fresh sencha that's not heavy on the umami or astringent. It doesn't seem to require a ton of leaf, though this may be just based on my personal preference.

Two green teas today! First a session of 2013 Zhu Ye Qing which I can't seem to get right. Then some of my favorite Sencha Otsuusan Karigane. I've been cutting back on the ratio of tea to water while I deal with my digestive difficulties, and find that a light brew is quite good. I do miss the intensity of my old style of brewing though.

JRS22 wrote:My understanding is that the change, which was done for the 2012 harvest, was at the pressing stage. It made the leaves easier to work with without breakage, which improves the flavor.

I buy multiple 25 gram bags rather than one large bag so the tea stays fresher. Then when I open a bag of TPHK I store it in a large shallow canister so the leaves are easy to remove w/o breakage. This is the only area of my life where I'm OCD!

I suppose the answer to your question is the change is subtle, but I already thought that Seven Cups TPHK was better than others I tried.

They describe the change on the product page and it seemed to me like a good idea. It has been years since I bought any. They used to carry a green, the name of which escapes me, that I really liked. It was grown in a rather cold climate and turned up later in the season than their other green teas. Unfortunately, not many other customers were as enamored with it as I was and it was discontinued.

Last edited by MacGuffin on Jul 4th, '13, 15:17, edited 1 time in total.